14/01/2014 Asia Business Report

amount to bribes. Now on BBC News, all the latest business news live

from Singapore. Drumming up business. The Japanese

Prime Minister rounds up his African tour with a stop in Ethiopian. And

Malaysia bands the hiring of foreigners in the fast food

industry. -- bans. Welcome to the programme. Japan's

Prime Minister is in Ethiopia for the final stages of an African tour,

where he has visited Mozambique and Ivory Coast. It is the first time a

Japanese leader has visited the region since 2006. Later, he'll

deliver a speech at the headquarters, emphasising Japan's

relationship with the continent. Our correspondent has more.

It has been eight years since a last official visit by a Japanese leader

to Africa. Now, the continent is home to some of the world's fast

growing economies. It is rich with minimal resources and have

attractive consumer markets. So, Japan's Prime Minister is keen to

promote trade ties. He's brought a large business delegation. At a

brief stop in Oman, Shinzo Abe travelled to the Ivory Coast, where

the economy is bouncing back after emerging from after a decade of

violence and instability. Then, in Mozambique, Mr Abe signed a raft of

agreements, including at credit of almost $670 million of loans to help

develop infrastructure. -- including a pledge. This comes fresh off the

back of an African tour by China's Prime Minister. The comparisons are

unavoidable. Japan has been engaged with Africa for decades but has

slipped in importance behind China. In fact, its trade with the region

accounts for more than five times that of Japan. Some have interpreted

Shinzo Abe's visit as an attempt to counter China's efforts in the

region. It is ironic that when Shinzo Abe addresses his keynote

address, it will be held in African union headquarters, built and

financed by the Chinese. The Detroit Auto Show takes place

this week. It's a different picture, this time, where in the past US

automakers have survived tough times. There are optimistic

prospects. Our sales went up 52% in China last year alone. Going

forward, the economy is expanding. Around China, 7.5%. The automobile

industry will be around 22.5 million vehicles. We have the number one

vehicle in the world and China. We will bring all of our new vehicles

to China. They love the Ford brand. We will have more on that later.

That's coming up in World Business Report.

Shares of Japanese spirits maker Suntory are trading higher this

morning. Suntory is acquiring Jim Beam. As part of the deal, the

Japanese company will take on the debt. It will bring the value of the

acquisition to $16 billion. It will make the Japanese company the

world's third-largest spirits maker. For more details, visit the website.

Malaysia has banned fast food outlets from hiring foreigners. At

least one in six workers from Malaysia are from poorer countries

like Indonesia or Nepal. The government is keen for businesses to

employ locals instead. Our correspondent has more.

Most of the staff who work here are locals. But the government says more

Malaysians would work here if they didn't have to compete with

foreigners. From now on, fast food outlets have to make sure their

staff are 100% Malaysians. We will survive but it will affect our

service. It will be slow. It might affect our sales. Malaysians are

frustrated with foreigners, who they blame for causing crime, working

longer hours for low pay. This customer is tired of slow service

from foreigners who do not speak the local language. The government says

a lot of Malaysians want to work here. Is that your experience? Yes.

They want to work. But after they work for a few days, sometimes they

are tired or not interested anymore. They resign. This food outlet has

had trouble finding new staff. That hiring sign has been out for more

than one year. Not a lot of Malaysians want to do these job.

Foreigners who end up working here do the cleaning. The labour here is

cheap. Customers don't have to clean up after themselves. This person

earns $300 a month. That is enough to take care of his wife's family

and his family in Nepal. But that is barely enough to survive in

Malaysia. Even if employers increase the salaries, it doesn't conquer a

wider problem. Foreigners are mainly working in construction, plantations

as domestic helpers. If the government is serious about moving

away from cheap labour pool, they'll have to start with those sectors

first. While Malaysia is clamping down on

foreign workers, Australia wants more. Australia wants to boost its

skilled immigrant intake by more than 15% by the middle of next year.

It says there is a need for skilled workers in the mining and

construction workers, as few Australians are putting their hands

up those jobs. Our population is not at the moment supporting the numbers

of skilled workers we need. Projections go through until 2025.

We will be 2.8 million skilled workers short. Between now and then,

we have to train up our workforce but we cannot avoid the fact we need

large numbers of skilled migrants. You know how much of a hot topic

immigration is in Australia. How do you explain the proposals to

Australian workers looking for jobs? In Australia, we have had this

mining boom. That has sucked out from the east over to the west very

large numbers of highly skilled workers, leaving the commercial

construction and residential construction sectors having to pay

higher wages or not find the workers. That is why they resorted

to programmes that are short-term, three-year programmes for skilled

workers. We are not training people in these jobs that we need and to be

in the places that we need in time, so we need to look at these

alternatives. The earnings season is under way for

corporate America. JPMorgan is the first of two American banks to

report the result. JPMorgan, Bank of America, CitiBank, Goldman Sachs,

Morgan Stanley. Six of America's largest banks.

Combined, they make almost $75 billion in profits. Many banks have

been cutting expenses and releasing money set aside for bad loans. But

the profits big banks made last year has not been seen since the peak of

the US housing bubble in 2006. In the last 12 months, the share price

for some of America's largest banks have gone up anywhere from 25% to

35%. It was a big driver for some of the record highs seen on US markets

in 2013. But this year, that good cheer may not continue for financial

institutions. Banks no longer have to rely on the low interest breaks.

-- rates. It meant many home owners were refinancing mortgages. There

were no longer refinances. So, banks are not getting that sort of profit

anymore. Also, regulators are finally going after financial

institutions that sort of mortgage-backed securities. Those

faulty loans led to the collapse of the US housing market and the

financial crisis. JPMorgan is paying $13 billion to settle charges and

others will soon follow, including Bank of America, which is expected

to pay the steepest fine. Mortgage-backed securities, the

instrument that great banks to record highs, maybe the same ones

that temper profits this season. Lets take a look at the Asian

markets. A pretty gloomy start. Asian shares came under pressure.

The Japanese yen was at a four-week high. Thanks for watching.

The top stories this hour: French President Francois Hollande is set

to make his first public appearance since allegations surfaced about an

affair with an actress. There've been a spate of arson

attacks in Brazil after 12 people were shot and killed. Investigators

are examining claims the police were behind